Gulf South Communications
Nick Moeller
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the 2020-21 women’s basketball season, the Gulf South Conference will split into East and West divisions. The GSC women’s basketball coaches have tabbed Lee as the East Division favorite and Union as the West Division.
Lee earned a share of the GSC regular season title last season and was the top seed in the NCAA South Regional. The Lady Flames were hit hard by graduation, losing five of their top six scorers, but they do return 2019-20 First Team All-GSC selection Haley Schubert (12.3 ppg, 46.0% FG, 43.0% 3PT). In 2018-19, Schubert was GSC Freshman of the Year and earned GSC All-Tournament recognition as the Lady Flames captured their first GSC Championship in program history.
Union has won three GSC Championships since 2015, including last year’s title. This year, the Lady Bulldogs will bring back Second Team All-GSC selection Jaelencia Williams. Williams racked up 15 double-doubles last season, and she averaged 16.4 points and 9.1 rebounds. Emily Beard, the GSC leader in three-point percentage (47.4%), and Shanique Lucas (7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg) will return to help replace the production of Jada Smith, the 2019-20 GSC Player of the Year.
Montevallo is projected to finish second in the East Division. Guard Marisa Snodgrass (9.6 ppg, 4.3 apg, 2.3 spg) will look to build on a season where she was named the 2019-20 GSC Freshman of the Year. Kiya Sain (11.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) finished as the Falcons’ second leading scorer last season, and she had a career-high 26 points in the postseason against Alabama Huntsville.
Delta State is picked to finish right behind Union in the West Division. The Lady Statesmen advanced to last season’s GSC Women’s Basketball Championship and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Forward Zyaire Ewing is a preseason all-conference selection after averaging a double-double last season (13.2 ppg, 10.5 rpg).
The Preseason All-GSC Teams, as well as a list of top newcomers for each squad, can be found at the top of the page, while the preseason polls can be found below.